Industrialist Harsh Goenka shared a video on his X handle on Thursday showing vast solar panels floating on water in China and summed up the reaction in two words: “Mind boggling.” The video gained traction and netizens flooded the comments section, many expressing admiration for China’s ability to execute projects at an extraordinary scale.

“Hate it, love it, but we can’t just ignore the amazing stuff that China keeps on doing,” wrote one user. Another commented, “Amazing infrastructure. The use of water bodies instead of land is brilliant.”

The fascination is understandable. It looks like an endless sea of solar panels stretching across the water, which is not just an engineering spectacle. It is part of China’s growing bet on floating solar power, a technology that helps the country generate clean energy without sacrificing precious land.

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A solar farm the size of a small city

As reported by Reuters, State-owned China Energy Investment Corporation (CHN Energy) has completed a 1-gigawatt floating solar photovoltaic facility in Shandong province. According to the company, it is the world’s largest project of its kind.

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The facility covers roughly 1,223 hectares and is located around eight kilometres off the coast of Dongying City near the Bohai Sea. Nearly three million solar platforms have been installed on specially designed offshore structures, creating what appears from above to be a giant solar island floating on water.

The project is also notable because it uses a combination of offshore and onshore transmission infrastructure, including a 66-kilovolt offshore cable system, a first for China. But size alone is not what makes these projects significant.

Why put solar panels on water?

For many countries, solar farms compete with agriculture, housing and industry for land. China faces the same challenge, particularly in its densely populated eastern provinces where every acre matters.

Floating solar offers an elegant solution. By placing panels on reservoirs, lakes, coastal waters and former mining pits, energy can be generated without consuming valuable farmland.

The water also improves performance. Solar panels typically become less efficient as temperatures rise. Floating on water helps keep them cooler, allowing them to generate more electricity than similar installations built on land. This cooling effect can increase power output by as much as 5% to 15%, making the economics even more attractive.

Turning old coal scars into clean energy hubs

One of the most interesting aspects of China’s floating solar push is where many projects are being built. Across the country, abandoned and flooded coal mining pits are being transformed into renewable energy sites. Areas once associated with fossil fuel extraction are being repurposed to generate clean electricity.

The approach allows China to make productive use of damaged landscapes while reducing pressure on undeveloped land. In many cases, these projects are also helping restore ecosystems that were heavily altered by mining activity.

When fish farming meets solar power

China is increasingly combining renewable energy with aquaculture. The Dongying project follows an integrated model where fish farming takes place beneath the floating solar arrays. Instead of dedicating the water body solely to electricity generation, the same space is used for commercial aquaculture.

The result is a dual-purpose system that produces both food and energy from the same area. This idea is becoming increasingly popular as governments look for ways to maximise the productivity of limited natural resources.

More than just electricity generation

Floating solar farms bring several side benefits that often go unnoticed. By covering parts of water bodies, the panels reduce evaporation, helping conserve water resources. The shade created by the structures can also suppress harmful algal blooms, which improves water quality in some locations.

In addition, many floating solar installations are paired with hydroelectric dams. Because both facilities can share transmission infrastructure, electricity can be delivered more efficiently while helping stabilise power supplies when weather conditions change.

China is taking the model global

China’s ambitions extend far beyond its own borders. Last year, China Energy Engineering Corporation proposed a massive 1-gigawatt floating solar project on Zimbabwe’s Kariba Dam. The project, which would require nearly US$1 billion in investment, plans to deploy around 1.8 million solar panels on one of the world’s largest reservoirs. Back home, development is accelerating as well. In 2024, CGN New Energy commissioned a 400-megawatt offshore solar project in Laizhou Bay, described as China’s first large-scale deep-water offshore solar installation.